Eye For Eye
by sarcasticSadism
Summary: After a freak storm hitting rural New Jersey in the middle of the night, Shiloh Sandoval, a grumpy, 15-year-old blind girl wakes up in a completely different world. With her older brother, Lionel, missing, Shiloh forces herself to team up with Sora, Donald, and Goofy to look for her missing family.
1. Prologue

**Quick Author's Note:** Alright, so I'm just getting back into the "business" of fanfiction, so be gentle. Or rough. I like it rou- Anyway. I'm giving you a prologue + two chapters in one day because by the third chapter that's when the stuff you dildos-I mean, _lovlies_, came here for, and that won't be uploaded until next week Saturday. Mark your calendars, ladies and germs! Anyway, enjoy~!

**Disclaimer:**

All the characters appearing in the Kingdom Hearts franchise are copyright Square Soft/Square Enix/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of sarcasticSadism.

* * *

Prologue

"_M__ãããe_," a girl whined, slouching in the passenger seat of a rented car, "do I _have _to visit _vovó?_"

"Shiloh!" the girl's mother spat out in shock, removing a hand from the steering wheel to smack her daughter upside the head. "Your grandmother is _dying_."

Shiloh's cheeks puffed. "I _know_ she's dying," the girl crossed her arms and sunk deeper into the leather seat, "it's just...she's gotten weirder ever since we left."

Shiloh's mother said nothing in response. The rest of the ride was set in an uncomfortable silence. The car rocked back and forth as it slowly trudged its way through the uneven roads of Homestead, Florida. As the silence continued, the ill feeling in Shiloh's gut grew worse.

Eventually, the car stopped. Shiloh's mother shifted the gear to park and unbuckled her seat belt. She had already closed and locked her door by the time Shiloh finally started to move and remove her own seat belt. The girl jumped when sharp knocks rapped at her window.

"Hurry _up_," her mother demanded.

Shiloh let out a gruff breath and threw her seat belt off. She slammed her door (unnecessarily) hard and took her sweet time trekking up the cobblestone path after her mother. The taps of her mother's sneakers sounded far ahead. Shiloh kept moving in her begrudging pace, her fists shoved deep in her over-sized jacket pockets.

Her mother had stopped to wait for her daughter to catch up. When she did so, the woman walked along side her, softly stroking the girl's hair. The only sound shared between them were their synced, dejected sighs. Shiloh knew that her mother was anxious about Vovó Serafina's dying. She also knew that she shouldn't have said what she said the way she said it back in the car. But she didn't lie; her grandmother _had _been getting more and more deranged over the past few years. The girl suspected that it had something to do with her mother remarrying and having them move away to live with her stepfather, Leo, and her stepbrother, Lionel.

Of course that didn't mean her grandmother was anything that would be considered "normal" in the past 12 years that she's known her. Back in the oh-so lively city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, her grandmother had made quite the name for herself, and she's kept that name since the three of them moved to the States. _"Bruxa"_ the people called her; _witch_. She definitely played the part, that was for sure. She read tarot to the people around town, made voodoo dolls and potions, carved runes and spells to ward off evil, and always warned everyone of the "impending darkness". As a kid, Shiloh had actually believed everything her grandmother had babbled about at the time, but over the years she grew tired of the old woman's gibberish.

After she and her mother moved away from Homestead to Miami, the pair had tried to make regular visits to her grandmother at the old ranch. However, the more they visited, the more the scent of mold and rot crept into the oak walls. Rodents crawled and skittered under the floorboards, fighting for whatever scraps that were left about and neglected. Shiloh tasted the iron and copper in the tap. She felt the atmosphere grow heavy and oppressing the longer their visits were...and soon enough their visits were nearly non-existent. Even Serafina's clients stopped going to her for her guidance, complaining to Shiloh's mother about "negative auras" and "unnecessarily dire readings".

Shiloh stepped as gingerly as she could onto the creaking porch. The termite-infested boards dipped under her feet and she bit her lip, silently urging her mother to open the front door quicker. The old mortise lock clicked and the door screeched open. As they entered the dilapidated home, the stench of rot penetrated Shiloh's sinuses and made its way straight for her gut.

"Urk..." she let slip a slickly burp, her hand on her mouth.

"Shiloh?" her mother called. "You okay?"

Shiloh grit her teeth and swallowed hard. "Yeah. Fine," she answered curtly, moving on.

The pair continued through the decrepit ranch, the nausea worsening as they entered deeper. Shiloh groaned, half annoyed, half queasy. This always happened when she went to the ranch, and it only made her more sick the more she visited.

"Eek!" her mother suddenly cried out, a rat skittering passed them. "_... __Repugante..._"

Shiloh would have laughed if the mere notion didn't want to make her hurl.

* * *

The pair continued through the deteriorating ranch until they reached a hallway. Shiloh ran a hand on one of the walls, her fingers dragging over the cracks and holes of the walls and doors. She stopped in front of one particular door: her old room. She didn't open it, she only stood there, stroking the elaborate pattern carved along the surface of the door frame. She remembered waking up to the sounds of her grandmother's knife digging into the wood one morning. "It's to protect you while you sleep, _meu amor_," she would tell her, "you never know what lurks in the dark..."

Shiloh scoffed at the memory. _What a load of..._

"Shiloh!" the voice of her mother whispered harshly, "come on!"

The girl rolled her eyes and walked up to her mother. They stood in front of the last door at the very end of the hall. Shiloh's mother took a few deep breaths, most likely in an attempt to steel her nerves. Shiloh grimaced, the reek of only-the-lord-knows-how-many-years old scented candles, incense, and mold slipping through whatever cracks and holes there no doubt was on the door. The sensation made her eyes water and her sinuses burn...and the door wasn't effing opened yet!

Shiloh growled and shoved the door open. She wanted to get this _merda_ over with and over with _fast_. Unfortunately, her lack of hindsight had landed her right in the heart of the horrid cocktail of incense, herbs, candles, and other things she would rather not identify. She stood her ground against the onslaught of smells that assaulted her nose. She tried desperately to conceal her gagging with coughs, but only managed to sound like a suffocating fish washed up on shore.

Shiloh's mother ran to her daughter's side, patting her back while the girl coughed and gagged up a lung or two. What felt like a century of torture, Shiloh took a big, shaky breath and forced herself to get used to the smell and move forward. Hopefully her mother would consider leaving early after her previous display.

After Shiloh's fit, a voice croaked from a distance. "Who's there?"

Shiloh's mother removed her hands from Shiloh's back and stood up straight, startled by her own mother's weak voice. "It's us, _mamãe_," the woman called, cautiously moving deeper into the room. "Sheyla and Shiloh."

"Ah! _Meu amor!_" Vovó Serafina exclaimed feebly. "Come, come here!"

Shiloh and Sheyla did as the old woman demanded, plodding wearily toward the bed in the far corner of the room. Shiloh stopped at the foot of the bed while her mother continued to sit at the old woman's bedside.

"Ah, Sheyla..." the woman wheezed, "it's been so long..."

The mattress creaked under Sheyla's weight. "I'm so sorry, _mamãe..._"

The old crone let out a hoarse chuckle, "It's alright, _minha filha. _It's mostly my fault anyway," she sighed. "This place went to shit, didn't it?"

"Understatement of the century, _bruxa,_" Shiloh scoffed under her breath.

"_Shiloh!_" her mother hissed, giving the girl a slight slap on the mouth. "_Tento na língua!_"

In contrast with her daughter's scolding, Serafina barked out a hearty laugh that spiraled into a coughing fit. "Still feisty, eh, _meu amor?_"

Shiloh groaned at the nickname. Since she was a child her grandmother had been calling her her "_amor_", her "_love_". At first she thought it was just what she called anyone in the family, until she noticed she had never called her mother anything other than her "_filha_", her "_daughter_". Since then, she just thought it was creepy, and she constantly had to had ask her to stop, which only resulted in her grandmother teasing her, saying, "Aw, she used to get that embarrassed, too!"

Shiloh had no idea who this _she _was, but her grandmother spared no waking moment in pointing out the smallest similarities between her and this mystery woman. "Your eyes are as big and brown as hers, and just as beautiful!" "Your hair flows down like a messy waterfall of chocolate, just like hers!" "Her cheeks would puff up just like that, too; just like an adorable chipmunk!"

After years and years of being compared to whoever-the-heck this woman was, Shiloh grew a sort of resentment towards her and her grandmother. Sure, she tolerated and respected the old woman like any grandchild should, but she just _knew _that the old bag didn't see her as her daughter's child, but this other woman she gushes over.

Whoever this woman was, Shiloh hated her.

"_Meu amor_," Serafina called hoarsely, "come closer."

Shiloh didn't move. She refused to be addressed by that nickname or anything other than her actual, birth-given name. Never once had she heard her grandmother call her by her first name. It was always "_meu amor_" or "love of my life" or, confusing as it was, "my rock". Never once did the girl hear "_Shiloh_, get this for me" or "watch your language, _Shiloh!_" It was always those damn nicknames. When her mother finally remarried, the girl made it a house _law_ that she would not respond to _anything_ besides her own name.

"My love..." her grandmother called again, "please come here."

Shiloh still refused to move. Her clammy palms squeaked as she held the metal bed frame in a vice grip. She clenched her teeth and kept her mouth shut. She was only there for her mother's sake, and she had already made the first strike in the car, and the second a few moments prior. Maybe, just maybe, if she stayed silent, the old crone would forget that she was there and she wouldn't have to upset her mother any further. It's too bad she was wasn't born that lucky.

"Love of my life..."

"Shiloh," Sheyla said then, gently removing her daughter's hands from the bed frame. "Go to her...please."

At her mother's pleading voice, Shiloh's resolve faltered. Her hands lay limp in her mother's more large and warm ones. One of those hands let go of hers and softly flattened a frayed edge of the band-aid on Shiloh's cheek. At the touch, Shiloh hastily removed herself from her mother and stomped her way towards her grandmother.

"Ah, there she is..." the woman croaked. "Come closer, _meu amor_, let me see that beautiful face of yours..."

Shiloh kept her mouth shut, grinding her teeth. She shoved her fists back in her jacket pockets and knelt down low enough so her chin was just above the mattress. A shiver shook her spine when her grandmother's wrinkled and frail fingers lifted the girl's heavy bangs, revealing her eyes.

"Why do you cover your face with all this hair, _meu amor_?" the old woman asked weakly. "You have such beautiful brown eyes...just like..."

"_M-Mamãe?_" Shiloh's mother called out, worry evident in her voice.

Shiloh's eyebrows drew together, confused. Then she heard it. Small, huffed wheezing, strained and weak wails, and obnoxious sniveling. Her grandmother was crying.

Shiloh almost let out a disgusted noise, jerking her head away from the old woman's hands. She always did this. The woman would always start crying whenever she looked too closely at the girl's face. As a child, Shiloh felt bad; maybe, she thought, there was something wrong with her face? She grew out her bangs, cutting and trimming everything else regularly, until they nearly covered her entire face in hopes of never making her grandmother cry again. However, when the old woman _willingly _lifted the girl's bangs to look at her face, she realized it wasn't _her _face that was making her cry.

The dying woman's sobs eventually died down after a few minutes. "_Meu amor_," Shiloh's teeth ground against each other at the the desperate tone of the woman's voice. "I have something...for you..."

"I don't want it."

"_Shiloh!_" her mother chided beside her.

"Please, _meu amor_, my rock," Serafina pleaded before grunting painfully, struggling to sit up. Shiloh made no move to help her; her mother already jumping up to the woman's aide. A drawer slammed open from the other side of the bed. The old crone let out a relieved sigh and sniffled again.

_God, is she _still _crying?_

Shiloh grew increasingly irritated the longer she had to sit in that foul-smelling room. All she wanted to do then was to go back to Lionel in New Jersey and leave Florida and her grandmother behind once and for all.

Shiloh was taken out of her bitter thoughts when something was placed in her hands. It was a very small, velvet box. Shiloh ran a finger along the box's surface. Among the coat of velvet, there, on the top of the box, were smooth, wooden letters spelling, "My Love".

The girl frowned. Her brows knitted together and her nose scrunched up in disdain. "What the hell is this?"

"I know that what I've done is inexcusable..." the old woman paused to sniffle and swallow another sob. Shiloh frowned skeptically. Was she apologizing for all those years of treating her like someone else? She tossed aside that hope at the crone's next words, "...but I want you to have it again. Maybe when you _'see' _it, you'll remember that—"

Shiloh shot up to her feet. "_See _it, huh?" she growled. "_Que caralho é isto?! _Just what exactly am I supposed to be _seeing, bruxa?!_"

The room was alive with the sounds of Shiloh's shouts and Serafina's wails. Sheyla tried to coax her mother to calm down, delicately cooing the old woman. Shiloh gripped the box tight, the rounded corners managing to dig into her skin. She wanted to throw the thing against the wall, but thought against it. Her mother would just pick it up and give it to her again anyway. Shiloh turned to leave, not wanting to be there any longer, but was stopped by a wrinkled hand grasping her wrist with a surprising amount of strength.

"My love..." Serafina trailed off, sniveling. "I...I am so sorry."

Shiloh growled and yanked her hand away. "Who are you talking to? Me? Or your _dead girlfriend?_"

Shiloh slammed the door as she left, leaving the sobs of a frail old witch in her wake.

* * *

Shiloh was finally back in New Jersey, in her room in her brother's apartment, unpacking. The rest of her visit in Florida was either uneventful or ground at her nerves. After her grandmother had died, they had to wait for her to be cremated, then waited some more for the ashes to arrive before dumping them in a forest or something. Shiloh barely remembered all that had happened, and she preferred it that way.

She unzipped the final pocket of her duffle bag and reached inside. Her fingers brushed up against a familiar velvet box. The girl groaned irritably. Her mother probably packed it in her bag after finding it in the trash bin.

Shiloh held the small box in her hands. She wondered where she should put it. In the trash again? No, her brother would just take it out or something, having been warned by her mother to keep a watch out. The girl sighed and just tossed it toward a random corner of her room, leaving it to be forgotten.

* * *

**Translations:**

_Mãe:_ "Mother"

_Vovó: _"Grandma"; "Grandmother"

_Bruxa: _"Witch"

_Repugante: _"Disgusting"

_Meu amor: _"My love"

_Merda: _"Shit"; "Bullshit"; "Fuck" *Note: you're gonna be seeing this one a lot throughout the story.

_Mamãe: _"Mom"; "Mama"

_Minha filha: _"My daughter"

_Tento na língua: _"Watch your mouth/tongue/language"

_Que caralho é isto: _"What the [hell] is this?!"

**Author's Note:** And so that concludes the prologue of this on-going series that I hope to actually complete! The next two chapters are setting up characters and the launch of the main story. We'll get right down to business in the third chapter, which will be uploaded next Saturday, so bear with me until then, yeah?

See ya.

**P.S.** If you're worried about the frequency of Portuguese in the upcoming chapters, don't worry; they're going to mostly be empty phrases (like "what the hell!" or "crap!" etc etc), so don't worry about having to read full-on dialogue without knowing what the hell is going on, since that ain't gonna happen.

Alright, this time for real: See ya!


	2. Three Years Later

Chapter One: Three Years Later

The school's main office was cold and bustling with the hushed whispers of the staff, secretary, and parents. Shiloh slouched in one of the chairs in the waiting area, right in between two men. The men on either side of her were talking (_arguing more like it_) rather loudly over her. Something about some college football game or something. She couldn't care less for _what _ they were "talking" about, but was more concerned by the fact that the longer they continued, the smaller Shiloh's space got and the louder their voices became.

Refusing to take much more of the torture, Shiloh stood from her seat, forcing the men to separate. She whipped back toward them and jabbed a finger in their direction. "Oh, would you two just _SHUT UP ALREADY?!_"

"_Excuse _me?" one of them shouted, sounding offended.

"Just who do you think you're yelling at, young lady?" the other chided.

"_Estou-me nas tintas!_ I don't give a _damn _about who I _think _I'm yellin' at," Shiloh stomped her feet, urging her accusing finger closer to the men, "I _know_ I'm yellin' at a pair of grown men who can't seem to control their damn tempers!"

"You're one to talk, _little girl_."

"How about you go over to the corner and quietly play with the kiddy toys like a good kid, yeah?"

"To hell with that!" Shiloh's finger formed into a fist. "You can't tell me what to—"

"Ah! Yes! Thank you so much, _Mr. Garcia!_" Lionel's voice boomed all across the office, having everyone freeze in their place. "I'll make _sure_ she stays _out of trouble!_"

The principal only grunted, unamused. Shiloh's shoulders jerked back as Lionel dragged her toward the door. The girl struggled against her brother's hold, but he didn't let up. If anything, his grip only tightened.

Just as Lionel opened the door to leave, one of the men from the scene earlier called out, "Yo, make sure you pop her one right on the mouth!"

"Yeah, that girl needs some goddamn discipline!"

Lionel laughed uneasily, but didn't say anything. He continued to push Shiloh out the door and into the hallway. The pair stayed silent on the way back to the car, the only sound between them came from Lionel's sharp, irritated exhales coming from his nostrils, and the soft tapping of the metal tip of Shiloh's cane hitting the pavement. Biting her lip, the girl shoved a fist in her school pants pocket and gripped the rubber handle in a vise, silently following her brother.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, they finally reached Lionel's Jeep Cherokee, parked a distance away from the high school. Just as Shiloh went for the passenger's seat, Lionel's hand stopped her. Knowing that a scolding was inevitable, she sighed and turned toward her brother, bracing herself.

"Shiloh, what the hell was that?" Lionel started, his voice low and steady. "I was already talking to your principal about _one _fight and you were about to start _two?_"

Shiloh continued to worry her bottom lip but didn't respond.

"Shiloh, what did they do?"

Shiloh chewed harder. She already knew that her answer would have sounded stupid. Hell, it _was _stupid. _She _was stupid. _Why didn't I just _move _to another seat or something?_

"Shiloh, _what _were they _doing?_"

"They were..." she trailed off, mumbling the rest under her breath.

"They were _what?_"

"They were _annoying me!_"

"You can't start fighting everyone that _annoys _you, Shiloh!"

"I _know _that!"

"Do you?!" Lionel shouted. "'Cuz for the eight years since we've been siblings you've proven _otherwise_! And in those eight years you were _kicked out _of so many schools, Mom and Dad had to send you _here _with _me!_"

"Oh, I'm _sooo_ sorry I'm such a burden to you!"

"Burden?" Lionel lowered his voice with a sigh and placed his hands on the girl's shoulders. "Shiloh, I _agreed _with them. I _wanted _you to come here. I also _want _to help you, but you're too damn stubborn to change or to admit that you _need _help!"

Shiloh's mouth drew into a tight line. She didn't respond; she refused to respond. She was afraid of what she'd say. Instead, she pulled away from Lionel's hands and climbed in the passenger's seat of the jeep. After a minute or so, the driver's side opened and Lionel took his seat. His seat belt clicked in place and the engine roared alive.

With another sigh he said, "Let's go get pizza."

In Shiloh's silence, Lionel drove off to the nearest pizza place.

* * *

As soon as the siblings got home, with pizza in tow, Shiloh had made a beeline straight for her room. Lionel made a sound to stop her but she didn't listen. The girl opened her bedroom door and slammed it shut.

She kicked off her shoes, put her cane by the door, and collapsed on her bed. She crawled forward until her face met with her pillow. The girl reached up and pulled the pillow in a tight embrace, or a vise grip; she wasn't sure. At that moment, Lionel came in, bringing in the hot and cheesy scent of fresh pizza with him. At his entrance, Shiloh curled up tighter and dug her face deeper into her pillow.

Lionel remained silent as he climbed onto the girl's bed and sat beside her curled-up body. He settled down as comfortably as he could before he began to speak, "I brought pizza."

Silence.

Lionel sighed. "If you're not going to talk then just listen, okay?"

Silence.

"Shiloh, I'm not going to tell you that I understand why the hell you do the things you do," he started, "but I am going to tell you that you aren't _alone, _okay? Mom and Dad are a phone call away, and _I'm _here. We're trying our _damnedest_ to help you through whatever asinine situation you put yourself into, but _you _have to meet us half-way. We can't solve all your problems, we can only help _you _solve _your _problems. I know you know this."

Silence.

Lionel sighed again. "Goodnight, Shiloh," he whispered, gently rustling her hair. The heavy weight left from the bed and Shiloh would have felt agonizingly lonely if it weren't for the warm spot left on her head.

Lionel's heavy footsteps strode around the bed and stopped at the door. "I left the pizza on the nightstand," he told her and closed the door behind him.

Shiloh stayed in her curled position for a few moments, empty thoughts echoing in her head. She thought back to what had happened in her class that day. It was her last class and everyone had been given the last few minutes for free time. Shiloh sat in the front, right by the door. Everyone had already migrated to form groups behind her, their conversations starting off as whispers that gradually developed into a cacophony of loud teenagers.

Shiloh was intent on taking a nap until the bell rang, in hopes of drowning out all the noise, until one of her classmates came up to her. He was one of those guys that everyone knew to be the douchebag of the school, but since the high school was small and diverse in it's students, everyone was a douchebag in their own douchebaggy ways. But this guy, on that particular day, was different. He had come up to her to ask her out to "watch—I mean _catch _that new movie that just came out". She should have just ignored him; girls and guys alike, from every school she went to, would ask her out on joke dates every year just to rile her up. It was like a game: trying to find new ways to get Shiloh, the angry blind girl, the troublemaker that made a habit of getting kicked out of schools, in trouble.

She would have ignored him, having been through that whole song and dance over and over again. But something was different that time around: he already had a girlfriend, if his week-long bragging spree actually held any water. And for some reason or another, that just _got _to her. What kind of...well, _douchebag_ would ask someone out, joke or not, after just getting in a relationship? While the girlfriend herself was _in _that class? That's just effed up.

So, with a rage that even _she _was surprised of, Shiloh slugged the guy right in the face. It was just her luck that at the moment his nose cracked under her middle knuckle, the teacher had come back from doing whatever-the-hell he left the room to do.

Needless to say, what happened after was obvious. Shiloh was sent to the principal's office and Lionel was called out of his class to pick her up.

Shiloh squeezed her pillow so tight she was sure that if it had a pair of lungs, she would have blown them out. She shoved her face deeper and deeper into the sack of cotton and let out a loud, frustrated scream. After a few minutes of doing this, having used most of her pent-up anger on her poor pillow, she finally sat up.

Following the scent of cheese and tomato sauce in her room, she found a paper plate with three not-so-warm-anymore pizza slices stacked on top of each other, just where Lionel said he had left them. She didn't even bother to set the plate on her lap before devouring all that there was on it.

She pounded her chest with a fist after choking on a bit of crust that refused to go down. She got up off her bed and threw the plate in a small bin right by her nightstand. She walked around her bed, keeping the tips of her fingers brushing along the blanket on top so she knew which direction she was facing. At the the foot of the bed, she moved forward until she bumped into a wall. Running her hand along the wall, she walked to the right. She stopped when she felt the cold metal of the bathroom's doorknob. She took the towel hanging in front of her, opened the door, and entered.

Shiloh walked back into her room an hour later, steam trailing behind her. The sudden contact with the A/C's cold air after her hot shower threw her in a fit of sneezes. She let out a dazed groan and wiped the snot dripping from her nose with the corner of her towel. Making a mental note on where she had just wiped, she dried herself.

Eventually deciding she was dry enough, Shiloh tossed her towel aside and went to her dresser. She opened each drawer and rummaged her hands in the mess of cloth and fabric, choosing only the most comfortable of clothes to wear. Sighing contently, she had dressed herself in some pajama pants and a tank top.

Even so, the comfort and satisfaction of her shower and comfortable clothes had brought dwindled and was soon snuffed out as the events of that day resurfaced in her mind. Sighing sadly this time, Shiloh sluggishly crawled in her bed at the center of her room and fell into a light slumber.

* * *

**Translations:**

_Estou-me nas tintas: _"I don't care"; "I couldn't care less"


	3. Hazing Up, Smoldering

Chapter Two: Hazing Up, Smoldering

"Shiloh!"

Something was grabbing at her – they felt like arms, but in her groggy state Shiloh couldn't tell for sure. All she knew was that there was someone or something else in her room and they were tugging at her arms and torso. In a half-asleep-half-hyper-aware daze, Shiloh thrashed wildly at the intruder. Punches and kicks were thrown ruthlessly and without abandon. She didn't know who this person or thing was, but she'd be damned if she allowed herself to be manhandled in her sleep. She was about to sink her teeth into the wrist she managed to grab ahold of, but was stopped by a shout.

"SHILOH!" The girl froze just before Lionel's arm was near her open mouth. Lionel released himself from her grip and held her face in his hands so that she was facing him. "Shiloh, it's me! Hurry – we need to _go!_"

Shiloh's eyes went wide at her brother's urgent tone; she's never heard him so anxious. "Go? Go where? Lionel, what's going—"

"No time! Come on, we gotta _go!_"

Without warning, Lionel stuck his arms under Shiloh's legs and back, lifting her up from her bed. Shiloh yelped as he made a mad dash for the door. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck for fear of falling. She hung on tight, trying to not to fall off or panic from not having her feet on the ground.

They were already half way out the door when Shiloh realized that they had left something. "Lionel, we left my—!"

"Oh! Oh, _crap_," Lionel nearly tripped over his own legs, making a tight U-turn back to Shiloh's room. "Where is it?"

"It should be leaning right next to the door," Shiloh hastily replied.

"Here it is! Quick, grab it, it's right in front of you!"

Shiloh ran her hand along the wall. She grew more and more panicked as every millisecond past without her finding anything. A cold rush of relief washed over her once she finally felt the cold, fiberglass cane in her hand.

"Alright," Lionel confirmed and went to sprint out of the apartment again. "Keep that thing as vertical as you can, alright?"

"Okay!" Shiloh felt the panic rise in her gut, but nonetheless nodded.

As soon as Lionel ran out of the front door, they were nearly thrown over the second floor railing by a sudden gust of wind. Their grip on each other tightened and Lionel ran as quickly as he could against the wind. The wind was merciless and howled loudly in their ears, but Lionel continued to trek his way down the hall.

"What kind of storm is this?!" Shiloh yelled in Lionel's ear in an attempt to be heard.

"That's... Thi-This is not an ordinary storm!" he replied, yelling right at the girl's face.

"Wha-What does that even..." Shiloh froze, hearing something behind them even among the wind. She would have thought it was another person, but no human being would make such an unsettling sound. It was a sort of skittering sound, like a small hoard of roaches...and it was getting louder and louder as it was catching up to them. "Lionel! Wha-What's behind us?!"

She felt his neck twist and convulse as he whipped his head around. "Oh, _crap_."

Lionel quickened his pace, bolting down a flight of stairs and through a set of corridors of the main building. Shiloh recognized he was heading for the parking garage and mentally questioned if it were a good idea to waste time getting to the car, but she didn't trust her voice to properly relay her concerns to stop him.

Lionel's heavy footsteps echoed eerily in the parking garage. It was quiet, too quiet. _Where was everyone? What is that thing chasing us? __What the hell is going on?!_

Shiloh wanted desperately to ask all of these questions, but all that came out of her mouth was a terrified shout as the skittering creature returned, right on their tail. This time, however, the creature seemed to have increased either in size or in number, ten-fold. The creatures' scuttling and skittering, in turn, increased in volume, grating painfully in her ears.

The unearthly cacophony nearly surrounded the siblings from all sides. Shiloh's heart was beating so fast and hard it was as if it were trying to escape from her chest. She fought back tears, to wail and scream right then and there, but she instead swallowed those impulses and the bile that came up her throat. The skittering surrounding them got louder and louder, and closer and closer.

"Shiloh, listen to me—AH!"

Whatever Lionel was going to say was cut off and Shiloh's body was launched into the air. The back of her head bashed against the concrete when she landed. She tried to get up, her head throbbing and her stomach lurching. A warm liquid trickled through her hair, and ran down the back of her neck. Before she knew what she was doing, her hand had shot up to her head. Her fingers brushed over the gash on her scalp and she let out a yelp, cursing her impulses.

The hoard of skittering creatures continuing toward them brought Shiloh back to the situation. She tried to scream out for her brother but it was pathetically drowned out by the creatures' stridency. The sea of static noise smothered her from all sides; she had never felt so isolated and vulnerable more than she did then. She let out a shrill shriek as some..._thing_ clawed up her leg. Her legs sprung to life, their only goal being to kick and shake off the _thing _on her legs.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Lionel's voice boomed over the noise, his footsteps landing heavily on the pavement as he bounded over to Shiloh. The girl braced herself to be picked up again, but was shocked when he instead picked her up to then toss her further ahead. She tumbled and rolled until she stopped herself. On her hands and knees, she turned in the direction where Lionel had just tossed her from.

"Lionel? Lionel!" She called, crawling forward.

"No! Shiloh, get back—AH!"

His voice was cut off with a muffled grunt, the mass of skittering concentrated on his location. A dreadful realization hit Shiloh. "He's...He's being swarmed..."

Her brother's smothered groans and cries resounded in Shiloh's mind. Without thinking, she continued to crawl and yelped when her fingers came in contact with something. The thing rolled ahead of her and she realized it was her cane and made a grab for it. She held her cane in such a vise grip she was afraid she'd snap it in half.

Shaking her head, she continued forward, coming up with an idea. She held out her cane in front of her, toward where she last heard Lionel. "Lionel, grab it!"

"I told you to _get back!_"

"And I'm telling you to _GRAB THE CANE!_"

Shiloh's screams nearly had her winded, the gash on her head throbbed to the rhythm of her drumming heart. To her relief, she felt the other side of her cane tug. She took a deep breath and dug her bare toes against the concrete below her. With all her might, she threw her torso back and extended her legs, pulling her cane towards her until she was standing on her feet. For a moment, a grin graced her face as she felt her cane move with her. But it disappeared as soon as it had come, replaced with a terrified scowl.

Her callused feet dragged against the pavement. She stamped her feet back, refusing to give up. The muscles in her arms and legs burned as she continued to pull. The other end of her cane suddenly dropped, nearly making her heart sink and her legs trip over themselves. Her cane scrapped against the concrete, as if it were being held over the edge of a building. Her heart beat faster and faster the more she realized she was being _pulled _instead of _pulling_.

"No! Lionel, come on—_hold on!_" she shouted, trying to get a better grip on her cane.

The cane tugged further down, like it was being swallowed by the concrete. Then...it stopped. The girl was launched back by the sudden release of the pent-up momentum from her pulling, having her land hard on her back. It only took a second for her to jump right back up on her feet, running toward where Lionel had been just the previous second. She fell to her knees. Her hands darted all around the pavement, but couldn't find anything. Nothing. There was nothing. There was no trace of her brother ever being there, or even the creatures that swarmed him. The sounds of the skittering creatures seemed so far away.

"L...Lionel...?" she called weakly. "Lionel...where are you? Lionel?!"

Hearing no response, she felt a lump in her throat. She half suspected it was her heart trying to escape her body again. She swallowed hard and grit her teeth. Lifting her cane over her head, Shiloh jabbed the metal tip against the concrete.

"Lionel?" _TING._

"Lionel?!" _TING._

"LIONEL!" _TING!_

By the fourth thrust, Shiloh couldn't take the ringing in her ears anymore. Tears fell like an angry waterfall and splashed onto the ground. She curled and retracted within herself, her forehead resting on the pavement. Even when the earth shook and the sounds of ripping and destruction ensued around her, she did not move.

"LionelLionelLionelLionelLionel...!" she repeated over and over.

The powerful wind had returned and whipped at her. She tensed when her body was lifted from the ground. Her arms extended toward the floor, the tips of her fingers scratching against the rough surface, searching for anything to hold onto. "Nonono_nononono_—!"

She continued to claw at the floor until she was only flailing wildly in the air. Sobs and wails wracked her body as she was thrust higher and higher. Her mind was like static, as if the creatures had taken over and enveloped her every thought. She didn't know where anything was; whether she was upside-down or right-side up was beyond her knowledge. All she knew was that she was terribly alone.

"_LIONEL!_"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Alright, so next chapter's when shit start gettin' down. So, mark your calendars for Saturday, April 4th 2015, folks! And if nothing is posted by 12:00 AM, April 5th, feel free to hunt me down and burn me at the stake.


	4. The Dream You're Seeing

Chapter Three: The Dream You're Seeing

"Hey! Hey, you okay?"

Shiloh groaned, her head lolling to the side. "Five more minutes, Lionel—WHOA!"

Something warm and wet ran from the girl's jaw to her temple. Shiloh's body shot up, moving the owner of the tongue away from her.

"Whoa, calm down, boy! You can't just keep going around licking unconscious people," a voice ordered, but was only replied with an excited bark that rung harshly in Shiloh's eardrums. The squeak of someone's shoes approached and she felt a presence crouch beside her. "... Are you alright? You're bleeding..."

Shiloh groaned, only then noticing the dull throbbing at the back of her head when the boy pointed it out. She reached up to rub her forehead, but found that was a big mistake. Stinging pain shot through her tender fingertips. She raised both of her hands, feeling the nerves tingle and vibrate. She supposed that she had scrapped them when she was clawing the the pavement in the parking garage, but she didn't think they were so deep... Thoughts of what had happened at the apartment complex made her suck in a sharp breath.

"Your hands got hurt, too?" The boy inquired, breaking Shiloh from her reverie. "There's gotta be a doctor here...wherever _here_ is..."

Shiloh couldn't concentrate on the boy's voice booming in her ears. Everything around her seemed too loud; her own heart beat seemed to have doubled and pounded at her head. She delicately rubbed her palms on her forehead and went to get up from the cold floor.

"Oh, let me help you!" The boy offered, quickly moving to hold her arm up.

As soon as she was standing, Shiloh shook off the boy's hand without saying a word. He stepped back, but she was acutely aware of his hands hovering by her. She grunted and swatted his hands away. She didn't need some complete stranger to be coddling her; she could have stood up just fine on her own. Who the hell was this guy anyway?

Shiloh opened her mouth to voice her thoughts but was interrupted by something pushing against the back of her legs. The boy stepped closer. "What's that you got in your mouth, boy?"

_Hey, it's that dog!_ Shiloh realized, remembering the slick feeling of the wide tongue running along her face. _Euuughh..._

"Is that...a stick or rod or something?"

That got Shiloh's attention. "Hey, dog, hand that over for a sec," she crouched down to the canine's level and yanked her cane from its slobbery maw. Relieved that she didn't need to go looking for it, she thanked the dog with a pat on the head and stood up.

"Is that stick yours?" The boy inquired.

Shiloh frowned. "It's not a _stick_, and yes, it is mine."

"Then what..." he trailed off, a gasp of realization escaping his mouth. "Oh! You're—!"

"_Shiloh_," she cut him off.

"...Oh, I'm Sora!" The air disrupted a bit as something darted toward her. Instinctively, she jumped back. She noticed the object stayed stationary in front of her. The boy chuckled nervously and the object moved away. "Oh, right...sorry."

Shiloh's brows furrowed. _Was that...his hand?_

The girl sighed and shook her head slowly. "Whatever."

She walked passed the boy, following the sounds of distant chatter and movement. She ran the back of her hand along the brick wall until she reached the end of the entrance to the alleyway she had apparently been in.

Shiloh's mouth stretched into a tight line. She couldn't tell if the area she was in was small or not. The talking, walking, and overall activity of the area was so loud in her ears, but they sounded so far away. Her heart seemed to not only beat louder, but completely erratic. She put a hand to her chest and took deep breaths, trying to control her wayward heart...but noticed that her heartbeat was actually relatively steady under her palm.

"What...?" she muttered, confused.

With her index and middle finger, she checked her pulse right under her jaw. Sure enough, her heart was pumpin' and thumpin' as stable as it should be, though it did quicken a bit under her panicked confusion. If her own heartbeat was fine, then what was pulsating throughout her body? She shut her eyes tight and took a moment to get her bearings. She needed to focus on one thing at a time, and her main priority right then was to find out just where the hell she was.

Her hand clenched tightly around one end of her cane. She lifted the other side and gently tapped it against the stone floor under her feet. The second she did so, however, she nearly fell over in a panic. There, before her were.._things_. No words could have accurately described what she was experiencing, for she herself had never experienced anything like this before. It was as if she were hyper-aware of every little thing around her. Echoes and sounds bounced off of every single solid object in the area and returned to penetrate her ears. The ground beneath her bare feet vibrated and pulsed with every movement and twitch from everyone in the area, she even felt the footsteps of the boy from before approach her from behind.

In the midst of her mental breakdown, she was temporarily distracted by a pulsation moving toward them. High heels clacked against the stone, the obnoxious smell of floral perfume violating Shiloh's nose. Shiloh groaned and rubbed her eyes. She really wasn't in the mood to socialize at the moment.

"Hey, kiddies," a provocative voice called, "first time in Traverse Town?"

The pulse moved closer, apparently belonging to the talking woman. The pulse-vibration-woman-thing went right up to Sora. "Care for this nice lady to show you around?"

Sora's shoes skidded a bit when he jumped back. "Th-Th-That's okay!"

The woman laughed. "No, no. No need to hold back with me..." she then made a surprised sound. "Oh, I see...your girlfriend's already showing you around, huh?"

At that point, Shiloh thought it best to just ignore the two and just push herself into her own mind.

_What the _hell _is going on, _she wondered. With everything that had happened and had been happening back-to-back, her nerves were overloading. It took every last bit of her concentration to not collapse right then and there and scream her lungs out.

One minute she was snug as a bitter bug in her bed, the next she was being charioted across the entire apartment building via her brother, with monsters chasing after them. Then Lionel disappeared (Shiloh refused to believe otherwise) and the last thing she remembered was her crying like a baby while being propelled into the damn sky. Then she woke up in some alley with some guy and some dog in some place she'd never been in. Not only that, but her senses were going haywire and she was way too perceptive of every little thing around her. She was pretty sure that she was picking up on other people's _heart beats_ at that moment. She didn't know what the hell was going on, where the hell her brother war, where she was, or what sort of demon powers she's gained in her unconscious state, but she did know she didn't like any of it not one. Effing. Bit.

"_AAAHHH!_"

Shiloh was broken from her thoughts by a shrill cry. It was the woman from before! The woman's screams shook Shiloh at her very core. _What the hell's going on now?!_

A hard thump landed right at her feet and she had to quickly jump back. Hesitantly, Shiloh lifted a foot and poked the fallen lump at her feet. She gasped and jumped further back when her big toe came in contact with a mass of hair. _Is...Is that the woman? What's she doin' on the floor...?_

Before Shiloh could try to help the woman up, she noticed something. The woman's once slow and lax pulse no longer was attached to the body that lay before her. Instead, the beating heart was suspended in the air by some clanking being beside that had no pulse of its own. The beating echoed throughout the area and pounded against the girl's ears. Her eyes strained when she turned her head toward where the source of the pulsation was and had to turn away. That second, there was a wave of what sounded like glass shattering...and the beating stopped.

"She's vanishing...?" Sora gasped under his breath.

"What...?" Shiloh didn't have time to question him. The all-too familiar skittering sounds of the creatures from the parking garage surrounded her and Sora.

"What is this?!" shouted the boy, bumping his back against hers.

Shiloh stood, shocked by the presence of the very things that took her brother. The clanking creature that shattered the woman's heart from before also joined in the hoard, with others like it. The girl grit her teeth and clenched her fists tightly around one end of her cane, holding it like a bat.

"These things attacked me and my brother..." she hissed vehemently. All the dissonance from the creatures did nothing to alleviate her migraine, and the attendance of the very things that took her brother did nothing to quell her rage.

Just as she took a step toward the clamoring hoard, Sora grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a sprint. "These things were on my island, too!"

They continued to run, Sora having to tighten his grip on Shiloh when she struggled against him. He slowed down just enough to open a pair of doors. The cool, ventilated air hit Shiloh's face as Sora pushed her into some sort of building. The doors immediately slammed behind her, the thud of Sora's body weight holding them closed reaching her ears.

Shiloh growled under her breath and turned on her heels. Just who the hell did this guy think he was, pulling her around like some rag-doll?! More importantly, why the hell did he force her to run away?! She had some goddamn business with those monsters outside and she was damn well going to stomp right back outside to show those bastards just what happens when you mess with Shiloh's family.

The girl walked forward to shove the boy aside, fully intent on giving those monsters outside a piece of her damn mind, but stopped when someone cleared their throat.

"Welcome to..." they said before immediately scoffing. "...Feh. From your get-up, I'm guessin' neither of ya are customers. And if you ain't buyin' nothin' I suggest you both get out!"

"Gladly!" Shiloh shouted, all the more willing to go out and take on her revenge and to not deal with some old man with an attitude.

"No, wait, you can't go—!" Sora protested, wrestling Shiloh's grip of the door handles.

"Hell yes I can, so let go—!"

The teens were interrupted by two sharp bangs from the other side of the door. The pair froze for a second and would have continued their struggle, but were again interrupted when the old man huffed behind them. "Hittin' the streets, are they? Damn those Heartless..."

The man rustled with something on the far end of the room while Shiloh and Sora resumed their struggle for the door. " Move it," the man demanded simply, shoving the two teens out of the way of the entrance.

Shiloh heard the doors start to open and bolted upright, about to sprint right out the building. Of course, she would have done so if it weren't for _somebody _holding her arm behind her. "Let go of me dammit!"

"You can't go out there!"

"LET GO—!"

"_QUIT FRICKIN' OBSTRUCTING MY BUSINESS!_"

Shiloh and Sora stopped struggling against each other to instead stand in abstract horror. A roaring fire shot out of whatever the hell the old man was holding, warming Shiloh's face considerably and most likely doing worse to anything that was outside. The fire let out one last roar and crackled before completely dying out. Shiloh noticed the clanking and skittering creatures were gone, much to her own disappointment. The old man humphed triumphantly and closed the doors.

"Now then... Haven't seen either of you kids before," the man mentioned casually, as if he didn't just incinerate a hoard of monsters just outside his door. "Where ya from?"

"I ain't a kid! It's _Sora!_" the boy was quick to correct, bolting upright and releasing Shiloh's arms from his vise grip.

The man let out a hearty laugh and set down his fire-breathing contraption with a loud _clank_. "Hoho! Nice to meet you too, Sora and..."

Shiloh couldn't tell if her face was still warm from the fire or if the old man was staring at her. From the silence, she guessed it was the latter. She hunched her shoulders and turned away. She'd rather not give out her name to another stranger, having already done so with Sora. She didn't want to make a habit out of it. But, he did just save them...

She sighed and muttered, "...Shiloh."

"Well, Shiloh and Sora," the man started, twirling whatever he had in his mouth. "Those Heartless things you saw just now are monsters that eat out the hearts of people. Used to be that you didn't see them wanderin' about First District much, but..." he explained, then muttered, "... I s'pose they found themselves somethin' good to eat..."

"Understatement of the century, old man," Shiloh murmured grimly.

"Speakin' of somethin' to eat! You were about to jump right into that hoard of Heartless, weren't ya?!" the man slammed a big hand on a counter. "Just what the hell were ya thinkin' doin' a damn fool thing like that?!"

It took a moment to register that the scolding was directed at her. "Hey, _you _said to leave if we weren't buyin' anything!"

"_I _didn't know what was out there, _you _did!" the man shot back. "What the hell was goin' through that head of yers?!"

"I—! You—! They—!" Shiloh stammered, frustrated. Of course _then _she realized what she intended to do was stupid, but... "They took my—!"

"They took a lot of things from a lot of people," the man interjected. "This whole damn town is proof of that! That doesn't mean you go runnin' around pickin' fights like a goddamn fool!"

The girl said nothing and turned away. The air was tense and quiet. Sora stepped toward the old man, breaking the brief silence.

"... Say, gramps," he started, "is this another world?"

Shiloh's ears twitched. _Another world...?_

Sora continued, unaware of the girl's shock and confusion. "I was on my island and...when I woke up I was here, in this city... I don't know where any of my friends went... Riku... Kairi..."

Shiloh bit her lip. She got what the old man was saying. She wasn't the only one that had just lost a home recently: Sora did too, and she was sure that woman from before also suffered the same fate. And yet, despite probably having gone through that same, horrifying experience, it was Sora that was sensible enough to run away while Shiloh tried to pick a fight. Goddamn, she was stupid.

She pulled herself from her depressing train of thought just when the man was explaining the town they were in.

"...This here'd be the city they call Traverse Town, home to all those who've lost their homes," he sniffed gruffly. "I figure if both of yer friends are still tickin', they're gonna be somewhere around here... Go look for them, why don'tcha?"

_Could... Could Lionel actually be here...?_

"Hey, _velho_," Shiloh called out, stepping forward a bit.

"I don't know what you just said but I have the feelin' I wouldn't like it if I knew."

"Whatever," she dismissed his remark. "Have you seen my brother, Lionel? He's like _thiiis _tall" – she stretched her arm over her head – "and he's, like, stupidly buff and stuff."

"Sorry, kid. Haven't seen anyone like that," he answered, much to the girl's dismay.

_Dammit...hopefully he just hasn't shown up around here yet or something..._

"Here!" the man said, which was followed by something bashing against her head.

"Ow!" she and Sora yelped, each holding some sort of fuzzy sphere.

"Eat that. Get yer health back up," the old man told them. "... Although they're just left overs..."

Shiloh pretended to not hear that last part. She held the fruit (?) in her hand uncertainly. She felt a bruise on one side and could swear that it was already partly bitten into. With a brow raised and shrugged shoulders, she cautiously took a bite. She was surprised that the thing didn't taste like much of anything, yet it was pretty juicy. The texture reminded her vaguely of a very, very small watermelon, but the skin bit into like a peach. With another shrug, the girl decided it wasn't half bad and proceeded to devour the fruit-thing. As she continued to eat, she felt a shiver run down her spine and a small wave of relief wash from her head to her toes. When she finished the entire thing, the cuts on her fingers, the scrapes on the bottom of her feet, and the gash at the back of her head had healed to a certain degree.

"If either of you find yourselves in any trouble, you can come back for help anytime," the old man declared after a moment, letting them eat what he had given them.

Sora sniffed, feeling touched by the man's concern. "...Gramps..."

"Call me 'gramps', or whatever the hell you called me before, and I'll beat you both silly," he said simply. "It's Cid."

Shiloh and Sora snickered. This old guy wasn't half bad. Shiloh didn't know about going to him when she was "in any trouble", since she just wasn't one to ask for help (or admit that she needed help), but she wouldn't mind bothering him when she found it inconvenient for him.

With a small laugh, she and Sora headed for the doors. "Thanks, gramps!" They chorused.

"IT'S _CID!_"

The teens laughed and slammed the doors behind them, just in case the old man decided to aim his flame thrower towards them at that point.

The cold night air hit Shiloh's face gently. It seemed that her senses finally calmed down and everything seemed so barren and silent, a nice change of pace from the last time she was outside. The pair walked slowly, not entirely sure where they were going. Hell, now that she thought about it, she didn't even know why she was still hanging around this Sora guy.

_Probably because I'd be a disaster waiting to happen if I were alone_, she reasoned. Besides, what the hell was she going to do on her own? She had no idea where anything was in the place, and after what happened before, frankly, she didn't want to use her cane again. Whatever the hell that whole..._experience _was with all that noise, vibrating, and pulsing it was something she never wanted to go through ever again.

Paying too much to much attention to her thoughts, she bumped into Sora's back. "Hey, what's the holdup?"

She soon found out the answer to her question without him having to say anything. The stamps of heavy boots approached them slowly. Instinctively, the pair backed away, only to have the other person continue toward them unbidden. Shiloh's brows furrowed. Who the hell was this?

Who ever it was, they didn't give her a good feeling.

"They know you're here. No matter where you run, they'll always be able to seek you out," the man before them said calmly. "They'll find you so long as you bear that keyblade!"

* * *

**Translations:**

_Velho: _"old man" (if that wasn't obvious enough)


	5. Following All Around

Special thanks to **Agent-Freelancer-D.C **and **Kira Neami **for following this miserable pile of crap. That is, if you're still following it for that matter. Anywho.

* * *

Chapter Four: Following All Around

The man stepped closer, prompting Shiloh and Sora to move farther back. Shiloh gripped her cane tightly. She knew she wouldn't be able to take the guy, not by a long shot, but that didn't stop her brain from coming up with some _brilliant _ideas. She had to _really _concentrate on not doing anything stupid.

She thought, for a second, that the guy was just some crazy-talking bum. You know, the ones that claimed to have been sent by the Lord Himself before mugging you? Yeah, those kinds. But the slow, steady, confident taps of the man's boots hitting the pavement made her think otherwise. She also thought to tap her cane, to find some sort of escape route, but her hand froze. She figured that collapsing right then from sensory overload wouldn't be a good idea.

Much to the girls dismay, she and Sora soon found themselves backed to a wall with no place to go.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Shiloh blurted out, frustrated with the lack of options she had to fight the guy back.

The man ignored her. "I apologize but," he continued towards them slowly, and as he did so something like a blade being unsheathed echoed around them with a _shwing_. "I'm gonna have to ask you to take a nap."

Before Shiloh could even open her mouth, everything went quiet. There was nothing, and she felt nothing. Heard nothing. The pain in her fingers, head, and feet were gone and were replaced with, well, nothing.

"...Hey, you okay?"

"Lionel?"

"No. Sorry to disappoint."

"I think you gave them a concussion or somethin', Squall," another voice exclaimed. "Didn't you say you were going to go easy on them?"

A deep sigh was released above Shiloh. "It's _Leon_."

The other voice ignored the correction. "Is she awake, too?"

"Just about."

Tired of the banter, Shiloh groaned and went to sit up.

"Whoa, slow down there, champ!" the second voice shouted, holding Shiloh's shoulders, urging the girl to sit up more slowly. "_Squall_ over here nearly busted your head open!"

"_Leon_," the man corrected again. "And...sorry."

"Apology accepted," Shiloh groaned, taking a moment to process everything that was going on. "Just...if you want to take someone to your secret hideout, how about just asking them first?"

"Hmph," Leon grunted, though she could tell he was slightly amused.

The girl sighed and went to comb her fingers through her tangled hair, but found that both her fingers and head were bandaged. She brought her hand down and tapped her fingers together, feeling the hallow sensation of her fingers not actually touch each other.

"When Leon brought you here, blood was practically gushing out of your head!" a girl beside her explained. "So we patched you up! Oh, that reminds me – here, drink this."

A glass bottle was shoved into Shiloh's hands. She lifted the bottle near her ear, hearing its liquid contents slosh as she swung it to and fro. "What is this?"

"A potion!"

Shiloh grimaced. She had enough experience with her deranged grandmother to know the dangers of potions. "What..._kind _of potion?"

Leon sighed from the other side of the room. "It's a health potion. We patched you up as much as we could, but that's about the extent of our abilities in such short notice. Drink that and your wounds will heal."

"I dunno..." Shiloh muttered. "I only just met you guys..."

"What's there to gain in poisoning you?"

"Apparently there _was_ somethingwhen you _knocked me out_."

Leon groaned under his breath. "Fine. _Don't _drink it," the man proclaimed, then muttering, "We don't have time for this..."

"So...uh, what's going on? Who are you guys?" Sora's voice broke through the silence. Shiloh jumped a bit, hearing his voice right beside her. She guessed she had been too distracted to notice the extra weight on the bed she was unconscious on.

Heavy boots stamped and stopped near Sora. "This 'Keyblade' you bear..." Leon started. "The Heartless are seeking it as we speak. In order to keep them from finding you, we'll have to hide the presence on your heart and separate it from you, for now at least."

"Huh?" Shiloh and Sora shared a sound of confusion.

"We had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures," the only other girl in the room clarified. "It turns out that's how they were tracking you guys."

"Still hard to believe that you of all people the chosen one..." Leon muttered bitterly, sounding disappointed.

Shiloh's mouth twisted, still confused of whatever the heck these guys were trying to say, but couldn't help to let out a quip, "Beggars can't be choosers, dude."

"I suppose."

"Why don't you start making sense! What's going on here?" Sora asked demanded, getting frustrated with the vague explanations he was getting. Shiloh couldn't blame him.

As Leon went to answer the boy's question, Shiloh felt a tap on her shoulder. "Psst, hey," the girl beside her whispered. "I think you should seriously drink that. Trust us; we're honestly here to help!"

Shiloh pursed her lips, thinking. One part of her said that she really shouldn't be trusting _anybody, _especially in a place she's not familiar with. Besides, she was never one to ask for help anyway, so she was iffy on the whole pro-bono thing these two were doing. Who knows what they're really after, right? It sounded like they're more interested in the Sora guy she was trailing along with, so what do they care for her?

Even so, the other part of her brain echoed Lionel's voice, telling her that asking for help wasn't a sign of weakness and that some people actually were kind because they can be. It also told her that it was _because _she wasn't familiar with the whole "new world" thing that she should take advantage of the situation and be grateful of the kindness of the strangers. Ugh, even the Lionel in her head was just as annoying as the one in real life.

"...Fine," Shiloh finally conceded, popping the potion's cap up. Without a second thought, the girl chugged the potion down. When the bottle's contents were close to depleting, she found that it didn't really taste like anything, much like the fruit from Cid's shop. It went down like water, only tasting of the faintest hint of mint. Sighing contently, Shiloh wiped the corners of her mouth and felt her fingers, head, and feet tingling. When the sensation faded, she removed her bandages and ran her fingers to the back of her head where the gash had been. To her amazement, there was no pain! At best, there was just a bruise left.

"See? Not so bad, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks...?" Shiloh trailed off, hoping the girl would tell her her name.

"The great ninja Yuffie!"

Well, that was unexpected. "...Right."

"Alright, here's the run-down," Leon started. "There are many other worlds out there besides your worlds and this town, got that?"

"Wait, what?" Shiloh's attention snapped back to Leon.

"I knew it! There are other worlds!" Sora drowned out Shiloh's confusion.

"What do you mean, _you knew_? I've never even heard of other worlds, aside from, like, planets and stuff..." the girl muttered, worrying her bottom lip. This was getting a bit too much for her brain to handle.

"They were supposed to be a secret from each other, because they've never been connected," Yuffie explained.

"Until now," Leon added.

"When the Heartless started to show up, everything changed."

"Heartless?" Shiloh mumbled. "Didn't Cid say something about Heartless?"

"You met Cid already?" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Yeah, they just got out of his shop when I found them," Leon answered.

"When you knocked us out, you mean."

"...The Heartless are those without hearts," Leon continued, completely blowing off Shiloh's remark. "The darkness within people's hearts – that's what attracts them. And there is darkness within every heart..."

Speaking of which, there was a sudden crash outside.

"Crap, looks like they've gotten a whiff of the key," Leon grumbled.

Yuffie jumped up from the bed. "Leon!"

"You go ahead, Yuffie!"

Sensing the danger, Shiloh jumped on her feet as well. "Hey, where's my cane?"

"Here!"

Not soon after the words were uttered, the rod landed smack at the back of her head, right on her bruise. "AGH! _MERDA! Filho da puta!_"

"Come on!" Yuffie shouted, grabbing Shioh's wrist and dragging her out the door.

The pair ran through passage after passage, dodging Heartless after Heartless that tried to attack them. Shiloh held on to Yuffie's hand for dear life, trying to catch up with the girl's speed like her life depended on it. However, something was still nagging at her nerves.

"What about Sora and Leon?!" she shouted.

"They're going to get the big guy!" Yuffie explained, no evidence of exhaustion in her voice as they continued to run and dodge around corners and pathways. "These guys are way too coordinated; they're probably being controlled by a bigger one somewhere."

"Then shouldn't we be going to help them?!"

"_We _aren't gonna do anything!" Yuffie declared, making a sharp turn just when a Heartless landed behind them. "I'm taking _you _back to the First District while _we _handle the situation."

"_What?!_" Shiloh slammed her heels against the pavement, forcing the two to stop in their tracks. " Like _hell _I'm going to left behind! I'm not useless!"

"Well..." Yuffie coughed awkwardly.

Shiloh's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, so that's it," she hissed. "Just 'cuz I can't _see _doesn't mean I can't _fight!_"

"But, we can't risk that!" Yuffie protested. "You're just a kid!"

"Sora's practically my age! How come _he _gets to fight?"

"_He _has a weapon! What are you gonna do, whack Heartless with your _cane?_"

Shiloh stood her ground and clenched her fists. The self-proclaimed "ninja" had a point. But Shiloh wasn't going to just admit that. "I'm not moving."

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" Yuffie grabbed the girl's bicep and tugged, but to no avail. Whichever way she tried to pull, Shiloh would put all her weight in the opposite direction. "Come _on _– before more start to spawn!"

"Nope! Not moving."

Yuffie let go of her arm in a huff. _"_Fine. Then you leave me no choice," Yuffie grumbled and was behind Shiloh in less than a second, "...Sorry, kid."

Before she could do anything, Shiloh fell into the familiar sensation of nothingness once more. Vaguely, almost as if she were half-asleep, she felt her body jostle and heard voices over her. Like waking up from a dream, Shiloh's eyes slowly blinked open. With a half-groan-half-yawn, she sat up.

"So she lives!" Cid's voice boomed from across the room.

"Cid?" Shiloh questioned, patting her hands around her, finding that she had been sleeping on a couch.

"The one and only."

"What the hell am I doing here?"

The man chuckled. "Yuffie barged in here, carrying your body like a sack o' potatoes, complainin' somethin' about 'stubborn kids'," he explained, amusement evident in his voice. "Like she's one to talk."

It all came rushing back to her. Shiloh jumped up to her feet. _I was knock out...AGAIN!_

"Where are they, what happened?!" Shiloh demanded, stomping right up to the counter.

"Kids these days..." Cid muttered under his breath. "You missed the action, if that's what you're really askin'. Sora and two other fellows just finished beatin' the big guy in the Third District."

"What?!" the girl shrieked. "I missed _everything?! _Where the hell are they now?!"

Cid sighed and shoved a familiar fiberglass rod in her hands. "They're right outside. Go down the stairs in front of the store and take a right. You'll hear them talkin'."

"Thanks, _velho!_" Shiloh shouted, already out the door.

"_CID!_"

She ignored him and slammed the doors behind her. She nearly tripped over the first step of the stairs right in front of the store. In her flailing, she found and grabbed ahold of a metal railing in the middle of the stairs. Unfazed, the girl propelled herself down the flight of steps and swung her weight towards the right, redirecting her momentum with her hand on the end of the railing. She ran forward until she heard boisterous laughter ahead of her. Finally finding her targets, she moved faster.

"... I'll go with you!" Sora declared, just recovering from his laughter. "Will you let me on your ship?"

Shiloh finally bounded up to the group, callused heels skidding on the stone floor. "What's this about _going _and _ships?_"

"Shiloh?!" the group before her exclaimed.

The girl huffed a tired breath, her hands on her knees. "The one and only."

Sora was the first to approach her. "Where have you been?!"

Shiloh's body shot up. "I was knocked out AGAIN!" she exclaimed, frustrated. "I _just _woke up in Cid's shop!"

"'Again'?" Leon muttered, sounding disappointed. "...Yuffie..."

"I had to!" the ninja girl defended herself. "She thought she wanted to fight and wouldn't move!"

"I _did _want to fight!"

"You probably wouldn't have been much help anyhow..." a new voice quite literally, quacked under his breath.

Shiloh stood straight, shocked by the strange new voice. However her surprise was immediately replaced with rage. "And just what do _you _know, _idiota?!_"

Having overcome with his initial shock of being caught from their mutterings, the duck-sounding person shouted, "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

Whatever it was the small, quacking stranger was saying, Shiloh couldn't understand a word of it. What she did know though, was that his infernal noises was giving her a headache.

"Now, Donald," another voice started, trying to calm down his companion it seemed, "we shouldn't be startin' fights."

"SHE STARTED IT!"

"_I_ started it?! _You _should have been minding your own business!" Shiloh shouted back. She stepped forward, a fist raised, until she was stopped by Sora holding her back.

"Shiloh! These are the guys that helped be defeat the Heartless!" Sora hastily explained. "They're taking me to other worlds to find Riku and Kairi!"

Shiloh stopped struggling. _Finding? In other worlds?_

"So, you're leaving?" she asked.

"Uh...yeah."

She spun around to face the boy. "Take me with you."

"_No!_"

Shiloh's eyes bulged, shocked to hear more than one voice, none of them being either Sora or the non-quacking stranger. "Why not?!"

"We can't let just anyone travel around worlds facing Heartless," Leon answered simply, "especially when they can't defend themselves."

"I keep tellin' you guys, I can—!"

"Fist fights don't count."

Shiloh bit her lip. "How do you..."

"The scars on your knuckles and your attitude gave me enough evidence to discern just what kind of kid you are."

"What's _that _supposed to mean?!"

"It _means_," Leon started, exasperated, "you don't know how to fight."

"_What?!_" Shiloh's nails dug into her palms that tighter she clenched her fists. "I _do _know how to fight!"

"_Brawling _and _armed combat_ are two completely different things."

Shiloh bit her tongue. She had no reply, no witty retort. He was right. Of course he was right – everyone was. They always were. What the hell was she planning to do, anyway? Bite, kick, and punch every last Heartless until she found Lionel? Even then, how was she going to do _that _with her senses defective and her cane practically useless?

But...she _needed _to find Lionel. She _needed _to know he was okay. That he was _alive_. What had happened in the parking garage nearly scared the life right out of her. The memories of him just disappearing and the ache of loneliness mad eher head pound. Where the hell did he go?! Shiloh had to find him, but she know that the only way to do so was to go with Sora, but even then that was apparently too far-fetched.

In her silence, one of the strangers spoke up. "Gwarsh, why do ya wanna go with us anyhow?"

Shiloh pursed her lips, choosing her words carefully. "I..._need _to find my brother. The last time I was with him he was swarmed by those skittering Heartless things and just disappeared! I _need _to find him!"

There was a short silence before he spoke again. "...Donald?"

"No! The King said _nothin' _about any other kid!" the ornery duck creature quacked. "Besides, she'd just slow us down!"

"Not when we're done with her!" Yuffie chimed in before Shiloh could retort.

"_What?!_" the group exclaimed in sync.

Yuffie let loose a giddy laugh. "Leon and I will train her!"

Shiloh's head snapped toward Yuffie's direction. "You'll _what?_"

"We'll _what?_" Leon inquired, just as shocked by Yuffie's sudden announcement as everyone else.

"C'mon, Leon," the ninja goaded. "It's a better option than to just let her run around head-first into stuff!"

Leon remained silent.

Shiloh tried to control her breathing. Right then, there was the smallest flicker of hope, and she was not about to let it go.

She turned back to Sora and the other two. "If I do end up training and get stronger by the time you get back, will you take me with you?"

"I don't know..." the kinder of the other two mumbled.

"Of course!" Sora immediately proclaimed.

"That's not your decision to make!" the duck reprimanded the boy, however when he noticed that his protests were being ignored he muttered, "Ah, whatever..."

"Gwarsh, are we really gonna take her with us?" the duck's companion whispered, unaware that Shiloh could hear them.

"Of course not, ya doofus!"

Choosing to ignore the pair, Shiloh stuck her hand out. She'll show them that she'd be able to pull her own weight. They'll see soon enough. She'll train her butt off if she had to.

"The name's Shiloh."

"I'm Goofy!" A heavy, gloved hand placed itself on top of her outstretched one.

"...Donald, then," a smaller, lighter hand joined in.

"And I'm Sora!" he laughed, smacking his hand right on top.

"Let's party!"

* * *

Translations:

_Filho da puta: _son of a bitch

_idiota: _idiot, fool, asshole, etc.


End file.
